Category ►►► Bengal Ballyhoo

May 28, 2010

Hope and Change From India's Left

Bengal Ballyhoo
, Commies

Hatched by Dafydd

In yet another in a long string of bestial attacks in India, "Maoists" derailed a passenger train in West Bengal, headed for Bombay (I refuse to call it "Mombai"), and sent it hurling into a head-on collision with a freight train. At least 71 innocents were slain with another 140 injured (as usual, some of the latter will become the former, changing these figures somewhat):

The attack on the Mumbai-bound train, after rebel fighters last week blew up a bus carrying civilians and police officers, underscores the resilience of the Maoists.

From its inception as an independent democracy, India has experienced different regional rebellions, some now quieted, others persisting, like those in Kashmir and in the country’s northeast.

But the Maoist threat, once taken lightly, has transformed into a very different logistical challenge, with the Maoists spread across several states and police jurisdictions. This has made coordinating a response much more complicated. Maoists have derailed trains, bombed bridges and schools, blocked roads with felled trees, sabotaged pipelines, and raided security patrols, only to melt back into the forest before reinforcements arrive.

Is it just my suspicious nature, or does this read as if reporter Jim Yardley is almost cheering them on?

Note that in every case above, the victims are not specific military, security, or government officials, but always comprise mostly random civilians. The brutality is sickening; what next -- will the Maoists begin eating their victims, and chucking virgins into active volcanos to appease the evil spirits?

Now I wonder whether former interim Communications Director (and wife of President Barack H. Obama's personal attorney) Anita Dunn still considers Mao Tse-Tung one of her two "favorite political philosophers?" *

"By their fruits ye shall know them."

This is the intellectual Left; this is the "action directe" they admire and applaud. This is who runs our country now.

Sure makes me feel proud to be an American.

* In Dunn's Wikipedia page, the notes include a long passage from Dunn's speech in which she declared her favorites; it purports to be a transcript, and from what I can glean, it appears accurate; but there is no link, so buyer beware.

Here is the allegedly more complete quotation from Dunn [I added the paragraphing]:

The third lesson and tip actually comes from two of my favorite political philosophers: Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa -- not often coupled with each other, but the two people I turn to most to basically deliver a simple point which is: you're going to make choices; you're going to challenge; you're going to say why not; you're going to figure out how to do things that have never been done before. But here's the deal: These are your choices, they are no one else's.

In 1947, when Mao Zedong was being challenged within his own party on his plan to basically take China over. Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Chinese held the cities, they had the army, they had the air force, they had everything on their side. And people said, "How can you win? How can you do this? How can you do this, against all of the odds against you?" And Mao Zedong said, you know, "You fight your war, and I'll fight mine."

And think about that for a second. You don't have to accept the definition of how to do things and you don't have to follow other peoples choices and paths. Ok? It is about your choices and your path. You fight your own war, you lay out your own path, you figure out what's right for you. You don't let external definition define how good you are internally, you fight your war, you let them fight theirs. Everybody has their own path.

Dunn claims her other favorite political philosopher was Mother Teresa, but she did not enthusiastically recite an anecdote about any of the beatified nun's military campaigns.

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